Page 104 - Social Issues
Pope Francis warns Trump about border wall
Pope Francis has issued a warning to US President Donald Trump and other political leaders, saying that those who close borders "will become prisoners of the walls that they build."
Detention of foreigners: SC directs Assam chief secy to appear before it on Apr 8
The Supreme Court Monday voiced unhappiness over the inaction in a case relating to detention of foreigners in Assam and directed the state Chief Secretary to appear before it on April 8 A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi termed the affidavit filed by the Assam government as an "exercise in futility" and wanted to know as to how many persons, who have been declared foreigners by the tribunal, have amalgamated with the local population. "What is the number of declared foreigners who have amalgamated with the local population. This is why we wanted your Chief Secretary to remain present," the bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna said while expressing displeasure over the non-appearance of officials. The apex court then directed the chief secretary to appear before it and posted the PIL filed by activist Harsh Mander on the issue for April 8. The bench was hearing a plea on the condition of detention centres in Assam and the prolonged detention of ...
Juncker says EU 'running out of patience' with UK over Brexit
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said the EU is "running out" of patience with Britain over Brexit. The United Kingdom is in crisis after lawmakers three times rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's proposed divorce deal, and now risks crashing out of the bloc in under two weeks. "With our British friends we have had a lot of patience, but even patience is running out," Juncker told Italian public TV channel Rai 1 on Sunday. "I would like, in the coming hours and days, for Great Britain to reach an agreement on the way forward." MPs held "indicative votes" last week on eight alternative Brexit options, but none of them achieved a majority. "Up to now, we know what the British parliament says no to, but we do not know what it says yes to," Juncker said. Asked about the matter of a second referendum -- an option demanded by many of those who would prefer to remain in the EU -- Juncker said that "it is something that concerns the British only". "They have to decide ...
Indian family members can now join working relatives in UAE as visa criteria changes
Indian family members of those working in the UAE will now be able to get an "expat visa" if the working relative fulfills an income criteria, according to new visa guidelines announced by the UAE.The UAE Cabinet adopted a decision to amend provisions of the resolution on sponsoring of foreign workers to their families in the country, WAM reported.According to a statement by the General Secretariat of the Cabinet, the amended provisions now indicate "income" as a requirement for sponsoring family members, as opposed to the previously listed "professions" which allowed workers to sponsor their families. The amendment is in line with international developments and accordance with best practices, it added."The decision aims at enhancing family stability of foreign workers and social cohesion, as well as attracting highly skilled workers while maintaining a healthy balance between professional and personal life," the statement continued.The Cabinet decision, the statement explained, ...
Georgia lawmakers pass bill banning abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy
Georgia lawmakers on Friday (local time) passed a bill that restricts abortion after a heartbeat is detected in an embryo, which is typically about six weeks into a pregnancy.Washington Post reported that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is expected to sign the bill into law."Georgia values life. We stand up for the innocent and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. The legislature's bold action reaffirms our priorities and who we are as a state. I thank these lawmakers for their leadership and applaud their undeniable courage. #gapol," Kemp tweeted.However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia has promised legal action if the Governor goes ahead with the decision to transform the bill into law."Governor Kemp, if you sign this abortion ban into law, we will sue and see you in court to fight this blatant attack on the rights and dignity of Georgia women and families," the Union said in a statement."For 50 years the Supreme Court has said that banning abortions ...
Manipur CM assures strict action in suspended cop's custodial death case
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday promised 'strict' action against the people involved in the custodial death of a suspended police Constable."I will not spare the people involved in this case. I will take strict action against the culprits," he told ANI on Sunday.Identified as Manjur Ahmed, the cop died in the police custody on Saturday. He was suspended for allegedly having connections with a member of an insurgent group. The Constable died during interrogation in custody, police sources said.Ahmed was detained by Imphal East district police on Thursday. He was suspended from the service on March 12 for allegedly having a connection with one Nando, a member of proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party.Anwar Huissen, a brother of the deceased, said that Ahmed used to guard Nando when he was lodged in the jail. After Ahmed's suspension, Nando had absconded from the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences here on Tuesday.A Joint Action Committee formed on Saturday has ..
26-year-old woman along with 2-year-old daughter commits suicide
A 26-year-old woman along with her 2-year-old daughter allegedly committed suicide by jumping in a river here on Sunday.The deceased have been identified as M Jyothi and Shivani, 2.According to Sircilla police, the two bodies were found lying in the river near Mulavagu bridge."M Jyothi along with her daughter committed suicide after there was an altercation between Jyothi and her mother-in-law last Tuesday," said police.The deceased's bodies have been shifted to a local government hospital for the post-mortem examination (PME), police said.The police said the body has been sent for autopsy and further investigation is being carried out."Since it has been four years of marriage, a magisterial inquiry has also been initiated," the police said.Police have not yet recovered any suicide note.The family of the deceased has alleged a foul play and has demanded a thorough investigation in the matter. Further investigation is underway.
CAB not passed in RS respecting the NE people's interests : Rijiju
Union minister Kiren Rijiju Sunday said the Centre did not introduce the citizenship amendment bill in Rajya Sabha respecting the interests of the people of northeastern states. The people of the region, he said, had staged protests without understanding the pros and cons of the citizenship amendment bill. The government, respecting their sentiments, had decided not to introduce the bill in the Rajya Sabha though many states were supporting it, the Union minister of state for home told reporters here. The controversial bill, passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, sought to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any documents. It is now set to lapse on June 3. Rijiju claimed that the bill would in no way affect Arunachal Pradesh, from where he hails, as it is governed by a different set of laws and under the Bengal Eastern ...
Jobs biggest LS poll issue for 62 pc MP voters: ADR survey
Employment would be the biggest issue with the 5.14 crore voters in the Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, a survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed. The survey shows that for 61.91 per cent voters in MP, including rural areas, better employment opportunities matter more than issues related to agriculture, corruption or terrorism. "A total of 61.91 per cent voters in rural and urban MP consider better employment opportunities as the biggest election issue," ADR state coordinator Rolly Shivhare said, adding that the corresponding figure nationwide was 46.80 per cent. Giving a break-up, she said better employment avenues was the primary concern for 70 per cent of MP's urban population and 59 per cent of rural voters. The second priority for 39.19 per cent MP voters was remunerative prices for farm produce, while the third concern for 32.69 per cent electors was better health care by way of more hospitals and primary health centres, the ADR ...
Maoists give bandh call on day of PM Modi's visit to Gaya on April 2
Banned Naxalite organisation CPI-Maoist has given a call for 'bandh' in Magadh division on April 2 to protest against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Gaya on April 2 where he will be addressing an election rally.The ground where Prime Minister Modi is expected to hold his rally has already been sanitised. No one is being allowed to enter the ground.Gaya SSP Rajiv Kumar Mishra said, "All VIP places have been identified. Vehicle checking is being conducted regularly to avoid any unpleasant incident.""Some routes will be diverted to efficiently manage the traffic on April 2," he said.
Pope in Morocco warns Catholics off converting others
Pope Francis on Sunday warned Catholics in Morocco against trying to convert others to boost their small numbers, during a rare visit by a pontiff to the North African country. Speaking in Rabat's cathedral on his second day in the Moroccan capital, Francis insisted trying to convert people to one's own belief "always leads to an impasse". "Please, no proselytism!" he told an audience of around 400, who greeted the pope's arrival by ululating and applauding, while hundreds more gathered outside the cathedral. Christians are a tiny minority in Morocco where 99 percent of the population is Muslim, with sub-Saharan Africans making up a large part of the country's 30,000-strong Catholic community. Islam is the state religion and authorities are keen to stress the country's "religious tolerance" which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely. But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim if they are not born into the Jewish community, apostasy is socially frowned upon, and ...
TMC misleading Gorkhas in Darjeeling about NRC: BJP
BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha, here on Sunday, accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of spreading misinformation regarding impact of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on the Gorkha community in the Darjeeling hills.
Pope to hold mass for Morocco's Catholic minority
Pope Francis will hold mass Sunday for nearly 10,000 members of Morocco's Catholic minority, on the second day of a visit during which he has already met migrants and trainee imams. The Argentine pontiff will begin the day at a social centre near Rabat, before meeting religious leaders at the cathedral in the Moroccan capital. The highlight for the Catholic community will be the mass held at a city stadium that marks the conclusion of the pope's two-day visit. Francis is the first pontiff to visit the North African country since John Paul II in 1985, and his arrival drew thousands to the streets on Saturday. Christians are a tiny minority in Morocco where 99 percent of the population is Muslim, with sub-Saharan Africans making up a large part of the country's 30,000-strong Catholic community. There are a few thousand Christian converts in Morocco, who since 2017 have called openly for the right to live "without persecution" and "without discrimination". Speaking at Saturday's welcome .
Farmers' umbrella organisation in Odisha threatens to opt for NOTA
The Paschim Odisha Krushak Sangathan Samanwaya Samiti (POKSSS), an umbrella body of various farmer organisations, has announced that it would mobilise farmers to opt for NOTA in the upcoming elections. The POKSSS convener, Lingaraj, made the announcement on Saturday. According to sources more than 50 lakh farmers in Western Odisha are associated with the organisation. "The leaders and the activists of POKSSS have been asked to opt for NOTA (none of the above). They would also campaign and mobilise the farmers to opt for NOTA, instead of voting for the Congress, the BJD and the BJP," POKSSS Convener Lingaraj told reporters. The KALIA and the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi schemes are clever tactics to evade the major demands of the farmers such as complete waiver of loan, implementation of Swaminathan Commission recommendations and bonus for the agricultural produces at the state level, he said. Both the BJP and BJD have betrayed the farmers, he alleged. The POKSSS also slammed the ...
First Rohingya woman shot dead in Bangladesh drugs clampdown
Bangladesh security forces have shot dead a Rohingya woman in a border town known as a gateway for smuggling meth pills from neighbouring Myanmar, officials said Sunday. Rights activists said Rumana Akter, 20, was the first Rohingya woman to be killed in a clampdown by Bangladesh authorities against the narcotics trade. She was one of three alleged smugglers killed in two separate incidents in Teknaf, which is close to refugee camps housing about one million Muslim Rohingya who have fled from Myanmar. Teknaf is a hub for dealing in "yaba" -- a methamphetamine-based stimulant that translates in Thai as "crazy medicine" -- which has become popular in Bangladesh. More than 300 people -- including nearly 20 Rohingya -- have been killed in the clampdown launched in May last year. Impoverished Rohingya refugees are used by dealers to transport the drug from Myanmar, officials say. A military crackdown against the Rohingya in August 2017 sparked an exodus of 740,000 refugees to flee the ...
Elton John spurns hotels owned by Sultan of Brunei
Legendary singer Elton John has joined Hollywood star George Clooneys call for a boycott of nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei, after the Southeast Asian leaders nation enacted new laws making homosexual acts punishable by death, starting April 3.
Slovakia elects its first female President
Anti-corruption candidate Zuzana Caputova has won the presidential elections in Slovakia to become the country's first female head of state.
The anomalies behind India's key economic data
With the general elections around the corner, the job scenario in the country is not very clear. Several experts have expressed doubt over the unemployment, growth rate figures and have alleged that the government was suppressing uncomfortable data.
NCLAT looking to protect PF, Pension funds investments in toxic IL&FS bonds
Courts have come to the rescue of lakhs of investors who face the prospect of losing their entire retirement savings parked in the toxic IL&FS bonds by their respective pension and provident fund trusts.
Robots to assist people with disabilities
Scientists are developing robots to help reduce anxiety among children and allow families to 'visit' their elderly relatives, as part of a research project to create the next generation of assistive technologies. The project, at University of Sheffield in the UK will for the first time bring together expertise in arts, humanities, engineering and robotics to create assistive technologies for people with disabilities. The aim is to increase understanding of how disability is currently represented and the ways in which technology can enhance lives in the future, the university said in a statement. An important focus of the research will be on animal-like companion robots that could operate to reduce anxiety in children in a hospital setting. Researchers will also be developing telepresence robots -- video screens on wheels raised to head height that can be controlled remotely using a simple smartphone app. They allow relatives and social workers to 'visit' elderly people more often, ...